Tuesday, 15 November 2016

The Chief Executive Officer of Lekoil Limited, Mr. Olalekan Akinyanmi, talked
about developing corporate assets in the continent in his presentation to
Africa Oil Week. At the conference, he said that Lekoil, “an indigenous E&P
company” is “poised for strong production growth” and is “headed for commercial
production”, while keeping costs under control and creating value “throughout
the cycle”. “Money, assets and people” are the three things Akinyanmi cited as
being essential for successful hydrocarbons operations. He said that money and
“a solid group of backers” is the starting point, and this leads to investment
in assets, technology and people.

“We are making painstaking efforts to build a strong team,” said Mr. Akinyanmi
of the challenge to find the right people. He added to the growing group of
voices at the conference calling for more geologists to get involved with oil
and gas. “We have in-house training in the almost-lost arts so we keep that
knowledge.” Mr. Akinyanmi said that it is important to be
selective about what deals are made, telling the conference that the company
had looked into 60 different deals and only signing three. “We are determined to
deliver returns,” he told the conference.

Community involvement is also important, according to
Mr. Akinyanmi. Involving local communities in security - a common theme across
multiple speakers at Africa Oil Week - is “mutually beneficial” and has
“operational benefits”, aligning the interests of the community with the
interests of the company. Developing power plants to bring energy to
communities is another important part of this strategy for Lekoil.

“The security issue is real,” Mr Akinyanmi told the conference. “We are quite fortunate in that our assets are not tied
to existing networks.” However, this does not
mean Lekoil is complacent in terms of security for Niger Delta operations, and
Mr. Akinyanmi urges “a better network of pipelines that criss-cross the area”
where security threats are prevalent.

In his interview with newsmen, Mr. Akinyanmi talked
about forthcoming first oil from the Otakikpo field, which will be Lekoil’s
“next milestone”. The importance of infrastructure, such as multiple terminals
and shorter pipelines was also raised by Mr. Akinyanmi. He said that while such
infrastructure would “make it harder for vandals, it doesn’t mean it won’t
happen.

He echoed the sentiments of other conference speakers
in terms of the importance of community engagement to ensure security and
overcome poverty, which can lead to people turning to militancy. Instead, Mr.
Akinyanmi talked passionately about the role of companies such as Lekoil in
forging a “path to a better life” with targeted CSR activities, such as medical
programmes, and job creation, using local companies and using access to energy
to create an industrial corridor, “with the agreement of the community”.

As well as Lekoil, Lekgas and Lekoil Namibia have been
launched. In regard to Lekgas, Mr. Akinyanmi told newsmen that “it is clear gas
is going to be a powerful story”. “Lekgas is a separate legal
entity which has tax advantages and helps attract capital,” he said. He described Lekoil Namibia as “exciting
but there is still a lot of work to do.” “It is easier to do business
in Namibia, [but] the regulations are still being tweaked,” Mr Akinyanmi said.

Looking ahead, Mr. Akinyanmi said that the biggest
hurdles facing African hydrocarbons development are access to good capital and
technology. He also cited a need for law enforcement, transparency and
governance for Nigeria. “If we don’t get it right,
the country can’t attract capital, we have to get serious,” he said. “We’ve got to do it right - the top is good
but the government needs to show it means business. We will wait and
see.” (Oil Review Africa)

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